Marine Corps training is a multi-week process that sees everyday civilians transformed into highly-skilled, combat-ready individuals. Towards the end of the program, the trainees will be evaluated one last time by their commander to ensure they have what it takes to be deployed.
The final evaluation incorporates all offensive and defensive tactics learned from their training and features some of the toughest drills and scenarios the Marines have experienced yet. Dubbed “Infantryman’s Disneyland,” the readiness test is a collaborative effort of Marines who must learn to trust one another, accomplish the goals of the mission, and ultimately make it through the grueling final task that certifies them as a unit.
Check out what the Marines go through in the video below:
The video features Marines with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
“It’s an evaluation prior to a unit deploying,” said chief warrant officer Keith Marine. “It’s the commander’s last look under the hood to make sure that that unit is fully capable.”
Marines with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, execute their Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California. (Marines/YouTube)
The combat readiness course is an extensive ten-day non-stop training period where the Marines are tested on everything they have learned.
“They focus on key offensive and defensive tasks,” Marine explained. “No doubt they’re a lethal force, but hopefully they’re more lethal because of this exercise.”
Marine says that although the main purpose of the readiness course is an evaluation, it is still learning experience as well.
Marines with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, execute their Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California. (Marines/YouTube)
As far as the nickname – “Infantryman’s Disneyland” – that comes from the fact that the exercise is the most action-packed week of training the Marines have seen yet.
“It’s probably the greatest company live-fire range out there,” said one Marine. “We’re building individual proficiency, physical and mental toughness, unit cohesion through shared mister and honing small unit leadership.”
Marines with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, execute their Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California. (Marines/YouTube)
For the Marines who participate, their biggest takeaway is their ability to get through it all.
“When you pushed Marines to their limits and they see that they can succeed and win at the end of that, I think it builds confidence, it builds unit cohesion, and it shows them what whatever their perceived limits are that they can push past them,” the Marine explained.
